Music publishing is the business of songs - as distinct from recordings. Publishers exploit, protect and collect income from compositions. For songwriters and producers who write, publishing is often the most valuable and longest-lasting income stream they have.
What publishers do
- Register songs with collecting societies around the world.
- Collect royalties from performance, mechanicals, sync and print.
- Pitch songs to artists, labels, film, TV, advertising and games.
- License songs for sync and other uses.
- Protect songs from infringement.
- Develop writers - arranging co-writes, writing camps and creative support.
- Advance money to writers against future royalties.
The writer's share and the publisher's share
Publishing income is traditionally divided into two halves:
- The writer's share - always belongs to the songwriter.
- The publisher's share - belongs to whoever publishes the song.
If you have no publisher, you are effectively your own publisher, and both halves are yours - provided you register so you can collect them. Performance royalties are a special case: PROs pay the writer's share directly to writers, and the publisher's share to publishers.
Where publishing income comes from
- Performance royalties - radio, TV, live performance, public venues, streaming. Collected by PROs: PRS for Music in the UK; ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR in the US.
- Mechanical royalties - from reproductions: streams, downloads, physical copies. Collected by MCPS in the UK, The MLC (for streaming and downloads) in the US, and equivalent societies worldwide.
- Sync fees - from licensing songs to film, TV, adverts and games, negotiated directly.
- Print and lyrics - sheet music and lyric displays.
- Other uses - samples, covers, karaoke, and more.
Unclaimed money
Huge sums go unclaimed every year because songs are not registered, splits are wrong, or writers are not affiliated with a PRO. If you write music that is released, you should:
- Join a PRO as a writer.
- Register every song with accurate splits and co-writers.
- Make sure your mechanical royalties are being collected - by joining a mechanical society or using a publisher or publishing administrator.
Publishing administration
A publishing administrator registers your songs worldwide and collects your royalties, typically in exchange for a percentage (often in the region of 10-20%) of what they collect - without taking ownership of your copyrights. For independent writers, an admin deal is often the simplest way to collect everything owed globally.
Self-publishing
You can act as your own publisher - registering a publishing entity with your PRO, collecting your publisher's share yourself. This works well while your catalogue is small; as it grows, worldwide collection becomes complex enough that many writers use an administrator or sign a publishing deal.
Do this now
- Join a PRO as a writer if you have not already.
- Make a list of every released song you have written, its co-writers and splits, and check that each is registered.
- Research two publishing administration services and compare their terms.